HAWAI'I BRIEFS
Prayer memorial for missing surfer
Advertiser Staff
Friends of missing North Shore surfer Joaquin Velilla will gather at 4 p.m. today at 'Ehukai Beach Park to remember him with prayers, said surf contest promoter Betty Depolito.
Velilla, 35, of Hale'iwa, vanished Thursday evening after paddling out into large surf at Pipeline.
Firefighters, the Coast Guard and North Shore lifeguards searched through Sunday but could not find him.
NU'UANU
MAN ARRESTED IN KIDNAP OF WOMAN
Police arrested a 46-year-old Wai'alae Iki man Sunday for investigation into a Jan. 3 kidnapping in Nu'uanu.
The man was booked for kidnapping, three counts of first-degree terroristic threatening, one count of second-degree assault and one count of misdemeanor third-degree assault.
A woman, 47, alleges that she was forced into a vehicle and repeatedly threatened with a knife on Waokanaka Street by the man.
WAIKIKI
MAN CHARGED IN BEATING WITH ROD
A 54-year-old Waikiki man was charged yesterday with beating another man with a metal shower rod during an argument.
Marcus Ngirturong, of Cleghorn Street, was charged with second-degree assault. Bail was set at $15,000.
The incident was reported to police at 5:45 a.m. Sunday and occurred on the 2100 block of Ala Wai Boulevard. The complainant, 43, was not seriously injured, police said.
SUNDAY HOTEL FIRE CALLED DELIBERATE
Police said an early morning fire Sunday at the Waikiki Joy Hotel was deliberately set.
Employees were able to extinguish the 4:45 a.m. fire at the front door of the hotel. Police said someone used a flammable liquid to start the fire.
Police classified the incident as first-degree arson.
No injuries were reported. Damage estimates were not available. Police have made no arrests.
BIG ISLAND
HUNT FOR MISSING DIVER CONTINUES
The Coast Guard and Hawai'i County Fire Department rescuers resumed their search yesterday morning for a missing diver at Kahena Beach.
The Fire Department relayed a request for assistance to search for the missing diver at 7:30 Sunday night. A Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter and crew from Barbers Point on O'ahu searched an area approximately 15 square miles along the coast and offshore. Fire Department crews searched the shoreline and in-shore areas.
The 25-year-old male diver was reported missing to fire officials by his diving partner.
PEARL CITY
SUSPECT RELEASED IN HATCHET ATTACK
Police released a 23-year-old Waipahu man yesterday pending further investigation into an assault that allegedly occurred Saturday night at a Pearl City-area park.
A man, 35, told police he was attacked with a hatchet during an argument with the man, who was arrested for investigation of second-degree assault. The complainant suffered minor injuries.
WAIPAHU
ONE LANE OF H-2 WILL BE CLOSED
The state Department of Transportation this week will close one northbound lane of the H-2 Freeway between the Waipahu exit and the Waiawa Interchange.
The right lane will be closed for about 4,000 feet for erosion-control work on the adjacent hillside today through Friday.
Motorists are advised to use caution in the area.
